by Angela Guess
Nicola Askham recently wrote in ITProPortal, “The most clear and succinct definition of data governance I can offer is ‘pro-actively managing your data to support your business’. It isn’t about data protection, data privacy or data security. Neither is it about data retention or records management, and it has no relation whatsoever to Big Brother. Without understanding what data governance is and what it isn’t, it’s easy for businesses to make mistakes during its implementation. Here are a few examples of such mistakes, along with suggestions as to how they can be avoided.”
Askham continues, “IT shouldn’t be in the lead. For data governance to succeed, an organisation’s stakeholders needs to be persuaded to take ownership of the data and lead the initiative. In most cases, however, the IT team will take the lead. After all, while they don’t own the data, the IT team will understand better than anyone the implications of not managing it effectively, and will often be the first to recognise the need for proper data governance.”
Her list goes on, “Don’t view it as a project. Implementing data governance can often be viewed as an internal project, but it won’t be successful if it’s simplified to a list of tasks. Once an organisation’s stakeholders have given the go-ahead to the implementation, the next challenge is winning over the hearts and minds of the wider business. However, this need for a change in attitudes, behaviours – and sometimes even culture – can be overlooked if the success of an initiative is measured by deliverables that can be ticked off on a check-list.”
photo credit: Flickr/ Nick J Webb